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The Survey Show – India Zegan

Zegan has been thinking on and off about Théodore Géricault’s painting, The Raft of The Medusa (1819) for approximately ten years. The French frigate, The Medusa, sank on route to Senegal in 1816.

Géricault’s painting is widely agreed upon by art historians as marking the birth of modernity. ‘The Raft of The Medusa’ was the first painting in the European tradition to depict and place equal importance upon the representation of slaves, people of colour and caucasians. Historians claim that the raft helped save the lives of some ten people, from the original 150 passengers of the raft. It is well documented that the official life rafts had unassigned seats that could have easily accommodated additional passengers.

For the Clandulla State Forest’s inaugural exhibition, Zegan has chosen to focus on the raft from Géricault’s epic painting. Zegan’s decision to only work in black and white tones directly references the black and white hull of the Medusa.